Pakistani Dramas:Oh The Monotony!

Ohkay so, there used to be a time when all our dramas used to be so different & the viewers used to get a lot of variety in terms of stories & the plots but since the last couple of years, all I see is a monopoly of monotony in our dramas. It seems as if the market has been saturated; the writers have completely run out of ideas & the channels are playing it safe as it is so obvious that they want to stick to very limited subjects which they believe with earn them ratings.

While assessing the dramas that I have seen in these last couple of years, I tried to pick on certain things that were so similar & were almost a part of every other drama. This thing showcases how our writers have run out of ideas & it also shows how they stick to very similar things in almost every other drama to tell a story. I feel we can have dramas & stories on so many different subjects because the sky’s the limit when it comes to ideas but sadly, our writers & the channels have forgotten what a variety tastes like & they choose to stick to the not-so-marvellous monotony. Let’s go through those aspects that are a part of each & every drama that have made it to our screens in the recent times:

The mother of all evils; the not-so Holy Matrimony:

Do I need to say more? Even though I know I don’t, I’d like to elaborate just in case there are some writers who’re reading this & aren’t getting a clear picture about what I am trying to say. Every other drama in fact ALL the dramas that we’re getting to see revolve around the subject of marriage & the ordeals that overtake the newly wedded couple’s life, as if Pakistanis are only born to get married just so that they can ruin their lives with their own hands. Yes, marriage is unavoidable but then, it is something that can be avoided in our dramas! Ohkay, even if they want to show what a marriage is like, can they please not only focus on the shadi ke side-effects & focus on all the other good things that do happen when someone gets married? I am tired of seeing every other drama revolving around shadi & the sazishain that later take place. The writers here really need to think outside the shadi box because like I said, there are a million other plots that they can explore in order to write a drama (if they are so keen on not letting their pens/keyboards rest or want to prevent their minds from getting rusty).

I am actually quite appalled & tired of seeing the domestic violence being a part of our dramas lately. I really want to know why the writers always end up a scene of two in every episode with a husband slapping his wife? Literally the way they have normalized slaps & chantas in our dramas gives out a message as if slapping your wife is a very normal feat, like let’s say doing your groceries or eating your food? It seems so contradicting that often in some dramas, they might not ‘show’ a wife getting hit by her husband but the way they show a wife caressing her swollen red cheek afterwards sets things straight, right away. When the directors know that it is something appalling & honestly, quite disgusting to even elaborate on screen, so what’s the need to add such a scene in the drama in the first place? This trend of normalizing domestic violence in our dramas is alarming & should be cut down because if the channels/writers/directors think this is a perfect picture of an ‘entertainment’, then they should switch on their laptops, open the Google Chrome & Google down the telephone numbers of the nearest psychiatrist available in their vicinities.

Out of 7 Billion people, I choose to marry the one I don’t love:

Like seriously? All the couples that we get to see in our dramas are the most incompatible couples ever seen in the history of mankind or ever recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. It is so obvious that the writers make two wrong people get married in their dramas, just so that they can take the story forward. In most of the cases, those who get married do have a chance to back out but they go ahead with the wedding as if they are going to buy a Kurta & they can come out of the shop anytime if they like because they didn’t find anything that fitted the bill of their choice?

I will return to you my love, when I’ll get bored of this wedlock-adventure:

As a continuation of my previous point of monotony, all the characters that we get to see in our dramas are already in love with someone else but they just get married because their mommy asks them to or to put it in simple words, they don’t have the guts to say “ke ammi meli shadi ush shay kalwa dain jish ko mai pashand kalta yan kalti hoon”. I have seen so many dramas where I see two people who’re already in love with someone else, get married & what for? The answer is simple, to create a havoc in their spouse’s life just so that they can bounce back to their beloved after their shadi ka laddu goes stale.

Divorce is such a complex & serious subject which our writers have literally made a fun of. When they don’t know how to instill more bechargi into the lives of our heroines, they resort to the ultimate D word & later play along those lines just so that they can keep on getting the ratings they need & they get to stretch the drama beyond a point where even a chewing gum breaks. After slapping, the divorce is such a subject & the word which is handled & blurted out so casually in our dramas as if the men are born with the right to divorce their wives if God Forbid she commits a mistake as petty as reminding him to get a gas cylinder filled for cooking purpose, just because he sighted the mood to say it. In some pathetic cases, the writers have even given the edge to the guys to even back out from the divorce & refuse to admit point blank, just so that they can extract as much cheapness as they can from this sickening situation.

Let’s only find a friend indeed, when you’re absolutely in need:

I have seen this thing in so many dramas where when a girl is thrown out of her home or chooses to leave her husband’s place, she goes straight to her friend’s place, who by the way was nowhere to be seen in let’s say, the first 40 episodes of the drama? The funny thing is these instant 2 minute noodle-like friends show so much of courtesy & act as if they were BFFL (best friends for life) with the heroine but they end up looking desperate to give their best shot for the 2 minutes of coverage they get on-screen & oh I may as well add that whenever the director picks a certain girl to play the role of a friend, he makes sure that the friend is acting & talent free. As much as they want to restore the faith in humanity by showing overly helpful friends, they end up highlighting the meanness of the heroines who only remember their friends when they are in need.

Don’t know how to take the story forward or spread the rumour; let’s use a KID as a wireless medium:

The role of the kids in our dramas can’t be underestimated & for all the wrong reasons because it gets so obvious, whenever you see a kid in the picture, always be sure that he or she will be used one way or the other to either instill a silly idea in someone’s mind or take the story forward because everything & everyone will end up revolving around the kid & that’s how the story of the drama will progress. I feel this aspect of including the kids in our dramas is also exploited because it is so obvious that the way the kids behave & speak on-screen is completely unrealistic most of, in fact all the time. The kids can serve the purpose of being a bigger daadi amman or dada abba so I think the producers safely opt for a kid because they can make them work for 2 roles in the price of 1.

So, this was my list of the monotonous things that are prevailing in our dramas. I actually find all these things so off-putting because every other drama revolves around more or less the similar situations. They all tell the same tale but in different words but I so wish that the producers & the writers start coming up with something different because there is no dearth of ideas to bring into picture & make a good drama. Please share your thoughts about this subject & also feel free to add more monotonous issues that you are tired seeing being a part of our dramas in the recent times.